3.2 – Warfare

The dark days have come again. It’s the end for Gallifrey. The most learned civilisation in the universe has come to war.

1 Comment

Styre
on May 9, 2016 at 1:24 AM

GALLIFREY: WARFARE

I’m not going to lie — I’ve lost interest, which is why these reviews are getting shorter and shorter. Fortunately, there are some effective moments in Stewart Sheargold’s “Fractures,” the second episode in the third and final season of the Gallifrey series. Start with Leela, who hasn’t been particularly interesting in the series to date, but who has been given a new lease on life, so to speak, by her blindness. She’s more reckless than before, more desperate, but still an effective, reliable ally, one who has adjusted quite well to her disability. The title, “Warfare,” can easily refer to the chaos inside the minds of Romana and Pandora, each possessed by echoes of the past — and the eventual resolution, which is quite elegant, making satisfying use of the assassin from the previous play. The rest of the play, though, is far too convoluted — while certainly comprehensible, endless sequences of twists and double-crosses merely bored me, as I still feel little to no investment in these characters, especially those who weren’t previously in Doctor Who. And then, at the end, the Matrix is totally destroyed — is this going to be a significant plot point for the remainder of the series? Hard to say. Frankly, the drama for me lies in whether I can find the energy to continue.